THE INFLUENCE OF ESG FACTORS ON FINANCIAL PERFORMANCE IN THE BANKING SECTOR DURING THE COVID-19 PANDEMIC

Environmental performance, social responsibility, and corporate governance quality are aspects of ESG performance. This study examines the influence of ESG performance on the financial performance of 333 banks located in 53 countries in Europe, America, and Asia, before and during the Covid-19 pandemic (2019-2021). Our model design allows us to establish causality relationships. The main factors and financial data are collected from the Refinitiv database. The findings indicate that the bank environmental performance in 2019 has a negative influence on the return on equity during 2020, and that no other ESG factors are significant. Social responsibility expenditures and initiatives in 2020 positively influenced bank profitability in 2021. Furthermore, East Asian banks have higher stock market returns and earnings per share determined by the quality of corporate governance in the previous year. The environmental performance of 2020 has a negative influence on earnings per share in 2021, but only for the sample in East Asia. Implications for the banking sector and investors are proposed. © 2022, Bucharest University of Economic Studies. All rights reserved.

Changes in the behavior of vegetable consumers in Bucharest and the neighboring areas caused by the COVID-19 crisis

Romania ranks third in the hierarchy of vegetable growing countries in Europe. This study focuses on the determinants of the decision to buy fresh and canned vegetables and on the satisfaction of buyers on these purchases. The quantitative survey was used as a method of collecting information, and the investigation technique was used as an investigation technique, structured in the form of an opinion poll. The opinion poll applied is a questionnaire-based survey that provided information on the situation of vegetable consumers and the change in consumption behavior caused by the COVID -19 health crisis. Most respondents prefer buying directly from the market, buying between 1-3 kg per purchase. If in previous years taste and provenance were the basic criteria in the purchase of vegetables, the economic crisis caused by the health crisis COVID-19, brought the price in the first place, due to the decrease of buyers' incomes or other financial problems. The need for consumption/family, however, did not suffer, the quantities purchased being comparable to those of previous years, buyers turning to vegetables with a low degree of perishability. The study provides results on consumers' criteria for selecting vegetables and their hierarchical changes during the COVID-19 health crisis.